updated 08:26 am EDT, Tue September 4, 2012

BlackBerry 10 'London' turns up again ahead of launch

RIM's forthcoming BlackBerry 10 'London' smartphone has surfaced again ahead of its official release in the coming months. The latest snapshot comes courtesy of CrackBerry, and shows a launcher screen for the first time with icons seeming to merge a 'Metro' look with a more traditional touchscreen icon paradigm. Among the apps shown include BBM, Facebook, Music, Pictures, Remember, Calendar, Contacts, Browser, Text Messaging and a new StoryMaker app that looks like it will produce custom movies.

Also making an appearance is a deliberately obscured video of the device that has surfaced on BlackberryItalia.it. The clip is a short video tutorial on how to insert the SIM card into the London by removing the 1800mAh LS1 battery first. The clip is deliberately obscured because, cheekily, the video tutorial is being run on the unreleased device itself.

RIM has already made around 2,000 test phones running BlackBerry 10 to developers who visited the BlackBerry 10 Jam event as well as BlackBerry World. These devices, while indicative, represent beta hardware only. RIM has indicated interest in licensing the QNX-based operating system, which if other makers take up the possibility, could help it generate additional income and create further developer interest in the all-new platform.

The once market-leading smartphone maker is reeling after posting a $518 million dollar loss for Q2 on the back of rapidly sliding sales, and having to delay the desperately needed BlackBerry 10 handsets until Q1 2013.